Latin American Film Festival to Take Place at Museum of the Moving Image This Weekend

MOMI

Jan. 31, 2018 By Tara Law

A festival featuring some of the best Latin American films released in 2017 will take place at the Museum of the Moving Image this weekend.

The festival, which runs from Feb. 2 to 4, will showcase five winners of the 8th annual Cinema Tropical Awards, which were handed out Jan. 10 by the New York-based nonprofit Cinema Tropical, an organization founded in 2001 that promotes Latin American films in the United States.

This weekend’s event, aptly titled the 2018 Cinema Tropical Festival, includes films from across Latin America. The Festival offers a platform for local audiences to discover the world of film and the artistic excellence coming from the region.

The festival kicks off on Friday at 7 p.m. with the screening of “La Soledad,” which won Best First Film. It depicts a young man who discovers that a treasure is buried in the house where he is squatting. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. At the conclusion of the film, a Q&A will take place with filmmaker Jorge Thielen Armand.

Other films include “Araby (Arábia),” winner of Cinema Tropical’s Best Film Award. The Brazilian film tells the story of a young boy in an industrial neighborhood who discovers the diary of an aluminum factory worker. The film is in Portuguese and will be shown with English subtitles. The film will be screened on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The film that won the award for Best U.S. Latino will be screened on Saturday at 4 p.m., “Memories of a Penitent Heart” explores filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo’s quest to uncover details about her uncle’s death from AIDS. The film is shot in English and Spanish, and will have English subtitles. The film will conclude with a Q&A with Aldarondo.

The festival will include the screening of “The Human Surge,” which won for Best Director for the work of Eduardo Williams. The film depicts the intersecting lives of boys from Mozambique, the Philippines and Argentina. It is in Spanish, Portuguese and Cebuano with English subtitles. It will be shown on Sunday at 5 p.m.

A documentary, titled Adriana’s Pact, that received a Special Jury Mention will also be screened. It depicts the filmmaker’s aunt, who was arrested upon returning to Chile for allegedly working with dictator Augusto Pinochet’s secret police. The film is in Spanish and will be shown with English subtitles. The film will be screened on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Tickets for each film are $15 and are available for purchase on the museum’s website.

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